|
On the other hand, there’s fear. Fear that the prospect of a second Cup final in three years would be snatched away by Redknapp and then they’d have to listen to trot out all the tired old stuff from him. ‘They were bottom of the first division when I went there … I gave them Premiership football, an FA Cup and European football … They had to let me go cos they needed the money…’ You can hear it, can’t you?
So the chances are any poll of Pompey fans asking who they want to win next week’s quarter-final replay would see a majority opting for Roy Hodgson’s Fulham. Fulham would be more beatable than Spurs, but only just.
The Cottagers have, of course, already done the double over the Blues this season – though their win at Fratton was their only victory on the road in the league so far, suggesting that when they leave south-west London, they’re not too sure of themselves. Whether that uncertainty would extend to a neutral stadium in north-west London remains to be seen.
Spurs, like it or not, have had a good season. They sit fourth with 10 games to go, though few apart from their own fans would put too big a portion of their mortgage on them finishing there. They were fourth with one game to go a few years back, and didn’t finish the job then.
If it is Spurs who come through the replay, which will be shown live on ITV, they and Pompey will stage a dress rehearsal for the semi-final in a league tussle at White Hart Lane on March 27.
Of all those rooting for Hodgson’s men, no-one will root harder than Jamie O’Hara. He would not be able to play against his employer in the semi-final – a much, much bigger loss to Pompey than Younes Kaboul’s omission from the Spurs team for the same reason would be to them.
O’Hara has been one of the major driving forces behind Pompey’s progress to the last four. He was superb at St Mary’s and against Birmingham, and the gap would be a big one to fill.
But if it's Spurs, and they can be beaten, at least he wouldn’t miss the final. And if it is, which of their ex-players should Pompey fear most?
Jermain Defoe would get the hottest reception from the blue end of Wembley after the way he went about things in his final weeks at Pompey and after his departure. But at Fratton in October, he showed both sides of his character – putting away a clinical goal then losing his rag and getting sent off.
Peter Crouch has had an average season for Spurs, even if his England scoring record continues to impress all, and Niko Kranjcar, as we know, can either be brilliant or anonymous.
There have been some unbelievable twists in the Pompey tale over the past few years – so much so that it was almost inevitable that a Wembley meeting with Redknapp would occur.
Equally, it’s pretty shocking that a club with no money and with a squad thrown together by circumstance rather than careful planning should have outlasted Man Utd, Arsenal, Liverpool, Man City and others in the most famous cup competition going.
So to beat Spurs and make it back to Wembley for a fifth time in 25 months would be just another logical step in an illogical period in the club’s history. Bring it on.
|
